Discussing the current situation in her native Iraq with a mixture of hope and anxiety, Zainab al-Suwaij of the American Islamic Congress reported on her recent educational work there at a January 15 EPPC seminar entitled "The Struggle for Iraqi Civil Society." Al-Suwaij returned to Iraq after twelve years in exile in the United States to help USAID rebuild the Iraqi school system and to implement women’s empowerment programs. If Iraqis are to have a chance to enjoy their hard-won freedom, she said, we "need to focus on the young."
Al-Suwaij noted with dismay that such terrorist organizations as Hamas and Hezbollah, which are banned in Europe and the United States, are now operating openly in Iraq—and focusing their political activities on the younger generation. Their ideology of extremism and hatred threatens to destroy Iraq’s democratic future and must be challenged. Education is the key, Al-Suwaij said, but the political authority should also "put some limits" on groups that undermine security.
Pointing to more positive developments, Al-Suwaij observed that Iraqis are now thinking and talking freely and, despite the security problems, feeling "safe at night because Saddam is gone." They are slowly learning about democracy and debating such new ideas as the separation of mosque and state. Many poorer Iraqis are coming to view education, a seemingly pointless and expensive enterprise during the Baathist regime, in a more favorable light and allowing their previously unschooled children to attend classes. Al-Suwaij emphasized, however, that it remains unclear what forces will shape "the heart of the Iraqi people."
EPPC then-president Hillel Fradkin moderated the exchange that followed. Among those joining in were Walter Berns of the American Enterprise Institute, Ladan Boroumand of the Boroumand Foundation, Phil Costopoulos of the Journal of Democracy, Tod Deatherage of the U.S. Department of State, Haleh Esfandiari and Anita Sharma of the Wilson Center, Paul Marshall of Freedom House, Hussein Mubarak of the Embassy of Egypt, Peter Skerry of Boston College, and Max Singer of the Hudson Institute.
